States Get Failing Grades For Their Child Occupant Protection Laws

      National SAFE KIDS Campaign Launches Five-Year Initiative Aimed At
          Strengthening the Nation's Child Occupant Protection Laws

    WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 In a study released today that rated
child occupant protection laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia,
24 states received F's for laws that failed to properly protect children in
motor vehicles.  In the most comprehensive review to date of our nation's
child restraint laws, the National SAFE KIDS Campaign found startling gaps in
coverage related to age, seating position and lack of specific child safety
seat use.
    SAFE KIDS stringently measured child occupant protection laws against a
model law that requires correct restraint of all children, in all seating
positions, in the care of all drivers.
    Among the alarming findings:

    * Nearly half of all states (24) earned F's and more than a third of all
      states (18) and the District of Columbia earned D's;

      In many states, children are legally allowed to ride completely
      unrestrained in the back seat of a vehicle, while other states allow
      young children to ride improperly restrained in only an adult seat belt.

    * No state fully protects all child passengers ages 15 and under.

      Specifically, children ages 6-8 are not required to ride in booster
      seats in any state.

    * 34 states allow child passengers to ride unrestrained due to exemptions.

      Exemptions include: nursing mothers, out-of-state plates, non-state
      resident drivers and overcrowded cars.

    "These harsh grades reflect the harsh reality that too many states allow
adults to improperly protect their children," stated Heather Paul, Ph.D,
executive director of the National SAFE KIDS Campaign.
    Each year, nearly 1,800 children 14 and under, die in motor vehicle
crashes, and more than 274,000 children are injured.  Riding unrestrained is
the greatest risk factor for death and injury among child occupants of motor
vehicles.  Children who are not restrained are far more likely to suffer
severe injuries or even death in motor vehicle crashes.  Yet approximately 30%
of children ages 4 and under ride unrestrained, and of those who do buckle up,
4 out of 5 children are improperly secured.  Only 5% of 4 to 8-year-olds ride
in booster seats.
    SAFE KIDS graded the states in seven key categories: (1) restraint use
required through age 15; (2) appropriate child restraint requirement by age;
(3) proper child safety seat adjustment; (4) public education/public fund; (5)
penalty provisions; (6) driver/circumstance exemptions; and (7) other
provisions.  SAFE KIDS' assessments are based on the language of each law, not
its implementation or enforcement.  Each grade, furthermore, does not
correlate the quality of a state's law with its rate of child passenger deaths
or injuries.
    Good grades were possible.  California earned an A for passing a strong
child occupant protection law in 2000.  In addition to meeting almost all
other SAFE KIDS criteria, California law goes so far as to specify the need
for age- and size-appropriate restraints such as booster seats for children
ages 4 to 5.
    As part of the effort to draw attention to child occupant protection, SAFE
KIDS today launched a five-year initiative aimed at closing the gaps and
strengthening laws.  Beginning today, coalitions across the country will work
to upgrade their state occupant protection laws by 2006.  Closing the Gaps
Across the Map will educate families on how to properly restrain their
children in motor vehicles, and assist states in their law enforcement
efforts.